Plan to speed up government payments to small business

Small business owners have welcomed the move to roll out a public-sector invoice tracking system application that would monitor and fast-track payments to small businesses.

Finance MEC Oscar Mabuyane said the decision had been made as a result of SMMEs shutting down in the province due to the government’s failure to pay them on time.

Tabling his provincial budget in Bhisho, Mabuyane said it was unacceptable some small businesses had to wait up to 90 days before they were paid.

“Our support for SMMEs will be meaningless without addressing their concerns on late payments by government departments,” he said.

Mabuyane said the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce (Nafcoc) had brought to their attention that the late payments had resulted in retrenchments and businesses closing.

“There are still SMMEs that have outstanding payments for more than 90 days, resulting in retrenchments and closure of businesses,” he said.

“When you don’t pay SMMEs you are killing business because they can’t pay salaries for up to 90 days.”

Nafcoc Nelson Mandela Bay secretary Mandla Msizi said anything to assist SMMEs was welcome.

“Generally, government integration systems are poor and that’s the most challenging problem.

“Sometimes you are sent from pillar to post just trying to access your payments.

“Another issue is authorisation,” he said.

“If a particular government official is not available, or off sick, then you have to wait for that person to come back to work – that’s poor contingency planning.”

Siyabulela Mandla, owner of 469 Enterprises, also welcomed the intervention.

“If they get a tracking sysally tem that deals with the issuing of payments, whether it’s government departments or municipalities, to SMMEs, it would be a good initiative.”

Emibizeni General Services owner Luyanda Lawu said he was all for the new application.

“It would do away with the very long wait for payments,” he said.

“It is especially hard for small business owners because we also have people who work for us – some of them very poor – who expect their monies at the end of the day.

“I know of small business owners who have taken out loans so employees are paid.

“That’s also not a good thing because when you do eventu- get paid by the government, you spend your profit paying interest.”

Gravity Projects owner Patrick Bramwell called for the application to be implemented immediately.

“It is good news as we had debated such an application a few weeks back,” he said.

Bramwell said once SMMEs finished their work they carried the costs for months after working for the government.

“This payment issue has been a concerning issue for years,” he said.

He called on the government to make payments within 14 days.

“It is a big problem as we must start projects with our own funds [and] then wait months for payment.”

Vulutha Trading owner Mmeli Kondile welcomed the news of the application.

“We are happy with the announcement,” he said.

Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber CEO Nomkhita Mona said countless SMMEs would benefit from the system.

“SMMEs are greatly affected by late payments from government departments as these businesses rely on such contracts to maintain their cash flow,” Mona said.

“Through this system, SMMEs will hopefully no longer have to retrench workers or even close their doors as a result of late payments.”

She said the chamber would watch the launch of the application closely.

“It could prove catalytic to the growth of countless businesses in the city,” she said.

‘I know of business owners who have taken out loans so employees are paid’ Luyanda Lawu

SMALL BUSINESS OWNER